AWS hosting vs. HostGator

Being at the top of any great list doesn’t just happen. To have your name on the list you have to be very good at whatever it is you are doing. HostGator has made the list of this year’s top largest web hosting companies. The amazing service they provide for such little cost plays a huge role in this award. Because they offer pay as you go hosting plans, customers are able to try HostGator’s service without the commitment of an annual plan. They do not require any start up fees or other unnecessary charges, making it possible to have a site on the web for under $10.00.

All of HostGator’s websites are heavily protected by their custom firewall rule. Every site they host is safe from DDoS hacker attacks. The framework of HostGator has been deemed compliant by the U.S. Department of Commerce and they have been Safe Harbor certified by the European Commission.

There are several features and extras provided through HostGator that make their services even more valuable. Each site they host comes with unlimited email accounts. They provide disk space with each plan they offer. Every plan is also equipped with an easy to use site builder, making it possible for anyone to create and develop the appearance of a site. They give the customer advertising credits which can be used through AdWords, Facebook, Google, and Bing/Yahoo. They provide helpful videos and SEO tips that make it possible for a site to be recognized on both Google and Bing. A scanner is also provided for Google Blacklisting and malware.

Regardless if you do your best work throughout the night or you’re up and at it early in the morning, HostGator will always have someone available to help. They are known for the friendly customer support they provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are available through live chat, a ticket system, and over the phone. HostGator has also provided over 650 help articles and over 500 video tutorials.

Amazon Web Services, otherwise known as AWS, is a web service platform which is cloud-based. They provide customers with the apps and other tools needed in order to create and develop online applications, track web data, handle server space, and all the other tasks in order to develop an online presence. Customers are given multiple options to choose from according to their individual goals and what they are trying to accomplish through a website. If the customer is in need of additional servers in order to provide for a large corporate database or creating and processing many applications, additional storage space is available. A company can speed up information they need to send or receive through content delivery services provided through AWS. This will both increase revenue and eliminate down time. Monitoring data usage and its effectiveness are services AWS provides which delivers real time feedback on a particular website’s performance. This also makes the customer aware of any changes that could improve their site and its effectiveness.

The basic package provided through AWS comes with free hosting. However, this package does not include the help and support available to Amazon Web Service’s paying customers. It should be noted that the majority of customers who begin with the basic package end up upgrading very quickly. This appears to be an ongoing trend with each package AWS provides. These plans can exceed $45 a month depending on usage. HostGator offers monthly packages as low as $4.00 which come standard with their 24/7 supports team. They also offer a lengthy list of other features with this plan.

With that being said, the numbers are still incredibly in favor of AWS. According to datanyze.com, HostGator comes in the 36 spot as far as the number of sites hosted while Amazon Hosting Services is in 2nd. According to the research provided by Datanyze, HostGator is responsible for 17,570 sites. AWS host over 1 million. Throughout the month of April 2016, AWS added over 38,000 sites while HostGator only increased their number by 634.

I personally do not have any experience with either of these two companies. I have formed an opinion on the few articles I have read. AWS has far better numbers than GatorHost. They are also an international company that has put a lot of time and effort into their brand and reputation. I like the idea of the help and support that HostGator provides regardless of the package a customer chooses. I think someone in the marketing or developing profession would appreciate the amount of support that is available with HostGator. If I were the owner of a small business, I would be more willing to invest my time and money with a like-minded company. My personal experience has always been a better work relationship with the smaller companies. Bigger corporations can be intimidating at times and they do not always show the same level of respect and appreciation for us smaller guys